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Apple delays unveiling of mixed-reality headset, report claims

By Trevor Mogg Published February 16, 2023

Apple’s highly anticipated mixed-reality headset is expected to be unveiled at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, according to a new report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

A Bloomberg report last month suggested the headset would land in April, but according to Gurman’s sources Apple has now delayed its appearance by three months after testing of the device surfaced software and hardware issues.

A rendering of an Apple mixed-reality headset (Reality Pro) in a gray color seen from the front. — Apple headset render. Ahmed Chenni, Freelancer.com

While it now seems likely that the headset will be shown off at WWDC, it’s not expected to go on sale until later in the year.

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The headset has been many years in development, and Apple will want to make sure it’s ready for all of the scrutiny coming its way.

It seems pretty much certain that the product will be called “Reality Pro” and offer virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) capabilities, enabling wearers to immerse themselves in a virtual world or have digital data overlaid onto real-world, real-time imagery.

Multiple reports have suggested it’ll come with a hefty $3,000 price tag, double that of Meta’s Quest Pro headset.

But for that money, you can expect a premium product with some nifty extras. For example, hands-free control could be part of the package, as well as 4K displays, and Apple’s powerful M2 chip powering the device’s operating system, dubbed xrOS internally. Gurman claims the headset will also feature “a 3D-like view of an iPhone interface, complete with apps like Messages, Mail, Safari, and TV. The device … will allow for more advanced virtual videoconferencing, with realistic avatars, as well as immersive video streaming. It will also include an App Store like Apple’s other core products.”

We should note that while this latest report suggests Apple is now set on unveiling the MR headset in June at its WWDC event, this plan could still change according to the progress engineers make with resolving the outstanding issues linked to the headset.

In related news, Apple has reportedly suspended the development of its AR glasses due to technical challenges, and also because it wanted its teams to focus instead on the Reality Pro mixed-reality headset.

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Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

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A person wearing an Apple Vision Pro headset.

It’s just over a year since Apple first listed its Vision Pro headset for sale, and the device hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire since then. Yet after a year of reflection, there’s one thing that Apple very clearly needs to do if it’s going to get its mixed-reality headset back on track.

That thing is to launch a more affordable model, pure and simple. It goes against Apple’s preferred way of doing things -- the company is used to making the best, most premium devices it can and pricing them accordingly -- but it’s the only way the company is going to be able to make its headset go truly mainstream.
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The goal was to create a competitor to the Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, but Gurman says the cancellation comes in the wake of an attempt to change and improve the design of the glasses. The first version of the glasses would link with an iPhone, but its limited power meant applications were limited — and the demands of the device also had an impact on phone battery life. Apple pivoted and focused on linking the glasses with a Mac instead, but that was met with poor evaluations. The development team reportedly dealt with frequently-changing goals, adding to the difficulty, until the project was cancelled.

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Samsung isn't new to XR and with the backing of two other tech giants, Project Moohan could become a serious threat to Apple's Vision Pro and VR market leader Meta and its Quest 3 headset.
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